Candied citron, cut in strips
Heat oven to 350°.
Grease and flour a 9″ cake pan; set aside.
Combine 2⁄3 cup sugar, zest, and eggs in a large bowl and beat on high speed of a mixer until pale and light, about 5 minutes.
Add flour and fold to combine.
Pour into cake pan and smooth top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool completely before removing cake from pan.
Using a serrated knife, cut cake crosswise into 1⁄2″-thick strips; set aside.
Line bottom and sides of a 12″ metal pie plate with plastic wrap; set aside.
Process almonds in a food processor until finely chopped. Add 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and process until finely ground.
With processor running, slowly add enough egg white to form a smooth dough.
Transfer dough to a work surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar and knead until smooth.
Using a rolling pin, roll marzipan until 1⁄4″ thick.
Cut into 2″-wide strips and line side of pie plate with strips, flattening where they overlap to form one continuous ring; set aside.
Heat ¼ cup sugar and 1⁄4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Cook until sugar dissolves, then stir in rum; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, ricotta, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth, 2–3 minutes; set aside.
To put it together, line bottom of prepared pie plate with cake strips, cutting to fit, and then sprinkle with 5 tbsp. rum syrup; spoon ricotta mixture on top of cake and spread evenly to fill pie plate.
Top ricotta mixture with remaining cake slices and drizzle with remaining syrup; trim excess marzipan.
Wrap pie plate in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours.
Mix remaining confectioners sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl to make a thick glaze. Invert pie plate onto a serving dish and peel off plastic wrap. Pour glaze over cake to cover evenly.
Decorate with candied fruits. Refrigerate cake at least 2 hours or overnight.
Chicken Soup
1 large chicken
1 onion, roughly cut
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 carrots, finely cut
2 stalks celery, chopped
Escarole (optional)
Bebes (or other small pasta like Acini di pepe)
In a large stock pot, place chicken and cover with water. Add vegetables and garlic, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for four to six hours. Add water as it evaporates.
Remove the chicken and vegetables, straining stock. When chicken is cooled, remove from bones and return to pot. Add finely chopped carrots and celery. Bring to boil and add escarole (if desired).
You can add the bebes to the boiling soup if you like, or you can boil the bebes separately and add to each individual bowl, which will keep the liquid from being absorbed.
Reheat as often as you need. Excellent cure for colds, flu and all manner of crud.
The ‘59 Sound—The Gaslight Anthem
Thunder Road—Bruce Springsteen
Go Now—Moody Blues
Say You Love Me—Fleetwood Mac
Vienna—Billy Joel
Leather and Lace—Stevie Nicks
Jersey Girl—Bruce Springsteen
Beast of Burden—The Rolling Stones
Over My Head—Fleetwood Mac
Born to Run—Bruce Springsteen
Career Soldier
Maximum Force
Temporary Duty
Hitting the Silk
Zone of Action
Damage Assessement
Scheme of Manuever
Fifty Frogs
The King Series
Breathless
Restless
Endless
The King Series Boxset
The Seredipity Series
Undeniable
Stardust on the Sea
Unquenchable
Recipe for Death Series
Death Fricassee
Unforgettable
Death A La Mode
Death Over Easy
Moonlight on the Meadow
The Fox’s Wager
Age of Aquarius
Crystal Cove Books
The Posse
The Plan
The Path
Love in a Small Town
The Last One
The First One
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Love in a Small Town Box Set Volume I
Always For You
Underneath My Christmas Tree
Always My Own
My One and Always
Always Our Love
The Love Song Girl
The Perfect Dish Series
Best Served Cold
Just Desserts
I Choose You
Keeping Score
When We Were Us
Hanging By A Moment
Days of You and Me
Not Broken Anymore
I wrote Best Served Cold in the summer and fall of 2013, mostly because I loved the new New Adult genre, I was inspired by a song (Mama’s Broken Heart) and by a high school experience of my own. I didn’t expect it to become a series, but then Ava became a bigger character, and she and Liam had some surprises of their own. That led to Just Desserts, which in turn led to I Choose You.
I thought that was it . . . until Ava’s brother Vincent and Liam’s best friend Amanda decided to indulge in a one-night stand at the engagement party. Apparently, they wanted their own book, too.
However, Amanda and Vincent’s story took a backseat to other books, and although it was always planned, it didn’t get written. Every time BookBub featured Best Served Cold, I had a flood of emails and messages, asking me about Amanda and Vincent.
So this is their story, and honestly, it was a wonderful labor of love to be back with this family and this group of friends. I had a ball writing it. Will there be more? Probably. There were several other books planned in this series, and we’ll see what happens.
Thank you to Stacey Blake of Champagne Book Design who gave me this hot cover and the lovely interior, too. Love it all!
Thank you to Kara Schilling and Krissy Smith, beta readers extraordinaire. Couldn’t do this without you!
And of course, thank you to my Temptresses for their cheering and their support, and thank you to my sweet family for understanding when I’m buried in the writing cave.
Photo by Heather Batchelder
Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books run from YA paranormal romance through NA paranormal and contemporary romance to adult contemporary and paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.
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